Manly Men
by FreezePride
Summary: Gaston and Aeleus seem to have very different views on what makes someone 'masculine'. (This is a bonus chapter of my huge story, The Journey.)


It was a quiet village, a farming hermit, a peaceful little town whose main export seemed to be as straightforward as it seemed: wheat, corn, livestock. From what Aeleus could tell, it was quite as unassuming as ever, aside from the decrepit castle looming ever in the distance, brooding and vengeful.

As was the case with most things though, if the mysterious house in the distance didn't bother the assembled party, there was little chance they would be the ones to explore it. Don't poke a sleeping dragon, so to speak. Besides, from the sound of the stories about that place and the implications of a cursed prince and 'moving furniture', it was most likely 'foolish wives tales told to keep children away from the dangers of an abandoned castle and all of the traps left over from ages past', Ienzo had justified easily.

When the night had fallen quickly, Arlene and Aeleus were the first to point out the welcoming looking tavern, vast in size with warm light shining invitingly through the windows. The intising smell of roasted meat and potatoes wafted on the cold winds and beaconed Aeleus further.

With little to no disagreement, even from Even who was constantly stopping to take notes (perhaps he had put his pen aside for long enough to notice the loud growling of his own stomach). They had entered and taken a seat at a suitably sized table.

"An ale!" Arlene told the barmaid with a grin.

"Make that two." Aeleus agreed, trying to avoid the disapproving sigh from Ienzo. "And some roasted meat for the table." He felt more than saw Lumaria's eyes narrow at him. "And a salad for the pink one." The dancer gave a contented sigh and sat back once again.

The tavern itself was as warm as it had appeared, bursting to the brim with smiling, carefree patrons, from the shopkeeps to the farmers to the young ladies whose only occupation seemed to be color coordinating, the entire establishment seemed to be in a constant state of delight, which only helped to ease Aeleus' mind even more.

That was, of course, until that fool entered.

A tall, handsome and sturdily built man burst open the door of the tavern, swaggering in not caring that the door itself was still swinging on it's hinges, letting cold air permeate the atmosphere. With a frown, Aeleus moved to go close it after seeing Ienzo shiver, but was happy to see that rotund young man following along after the robust one hurried along, tripping over his own two feet before slamming the door shut once again as if it had offended him.

The handsome individual was touting around two fat geese, which he waved at the patrons with a winning smile. "Dinner for tonight! See how it's done, lads? A real man's meal is his own kill!" He tossed the undressed carcasses to a nearby barmaid, leaving an explosion of feathers and traces of dried blood on her apron. She looked at it with the upmost distaste before retreating back to the kitchen, muttering about how she didn't get paid nearly enough to put up with this.

Even looked at the man appraisingly, his eyebrow arched, expression clearly unimpressed. Ienzo didn't even bother to look up from his book at the interruption. Lumaria, as was usual for him, had in place his guarded expression. Why, oh, why did Aeleus choose to look at the man directly? He should have kept his head down, he should have peeked over at Ienzo's book and faked being distracted. He knew exactly where this situation could lead.

The handsome man, spotted Aeleus and, with a hearty bark of laughter and a glint in his eyes that could mean nothing but ill, he swaggered over to their table, hefting his hunting rifle over his shoulder. "Well, there, outsider. I do believe I have never seen you before here. What brings you to my tavern?" He boomed, his hearty voice more than attracting the attention of all of the merry patrons who stopped their talking immediately to stare outright at the confrontation.

"Traveling." Aeleus answered, his voice level and steady as he took a deep gulp of ale, not making eye contact.

"You're quite a big one, aren't you?" The man sniffed, flexing his bicep as he leaned down at their table to talk. "Let's see you stand up, hm?"

"I'd really rather not." Aeleus responded quietly.

"Oh, come now. Don't be shy!" The man yanked at him, certain that he would be the taller, broader one by far. Aeleus' sighed in exasperation. Damned, if this conversation wouldn't go exactly where he knew it would go.

Standing, the hunter was horrified to see that Aeleus was not only half a head taller than him, his muscles were broader and far more broad by the precision of years of trained. He gritted his teeth, adjusting his bright red tunic as Aeleus quickly seated himself once again. "Hey!" The man shouted as though the guardian had personally attacked him. "No one shows up Gaston!"

"Darn tootin'!" Yelped the rotund man following him in agreement.

"Did you catch your meal today, stranger?" Gaston asked, nodding knowingly in grim satisfaction as Aeleus responded that he certainly hadn't. "Of course not. You probably wouldn't even know how!" Even sucked in air, about to take center stage in only the nagging way he knew to point out that, not only was Aeleus adapt at hunting, him doing so would have been highly unnecessary. After a pleading glance from Aeleus, he snapped his mouth shut again. Grumbling under his breath about idiots in tunics, he went back to writing his notes.

He gave the same glance to the rest of the party as well, which did not stop Ienzo from glaring murderously at this idiotic 'Gaston'.

Aeleus didn't know if it were reasonably possible, but he really wanted to sink into the ground. Given his abilities with rock formations, technically he could give it a shot, but it would end up ruining this fine establishment that they had decided to settle down in after touching down on this new world. How had he even ended up in this predicament, he didn't know, but he couldn't stand this damn contest of machismo any more than he could his boisterous company.

"My own glorious catch will make a fine meal." Gaston bragged, hanging his gun up on the wall next to the many hunting trophies. "For only me, of course. I have quite an appetite, being such a large, strong man as I am. Those five dozen eggs this morning simply did not fuel me. I don't suppose you have the same sort of problem, do you, newcomer? It's such a trial to be so perfectly made." He laughed at his own non-joke, and the rest of the tavern seemed to agree that his blatant statement was quite funny. Or perhaps it was the drinks after all.

Arlene bit her tongue. It was long running knowledge that Aeleus was not only the most health conscious,of them, but also the best cook because he had no other choice than to be able to adeptly prepare food. He was constantly hungry from the amount of calories his training burned. Aeleus, of course, stayed carefully silent, drinking from his mug of ale every now and then as the hunter poked fun at him.

As the night continued on, the teasing became a tad bit ridiculous. Even Lumaria seemed on the verge of attacking when their meal finally came and, with a bark of laughter, Gaston had forced the plate of lettuce in front of Aeleus and insisted that he should 'watch his figure'. The guard, of course, waited for him to leave, doubled over with laughter before handing the plate politely to Lumaria, who took it gratefully.

"Wow, what an idiot." Ienzo muttered snidely, chewing his portion and giving Aeleus a sidelong glance. He seemed absolutely undisturbed. It could have been through careful training that he achieved this feat, but something within Ienzo told him that this was not an uncommon occurrence. His size was always noticed, no matter what he did to detract from it.

Fear or hostility. It was one or the other, no middle ground and certainly no sympathy.

The door opened up once again with a gust of cool air, and revealed a pretty, petite young woman with chestnut brown hair, a book clutched in her hands and a basket by her side. She strode up to the counter confidently, and for the first time that night, Gaston was distracted from his endless bullying. She smiled at the barkeep, as though this were a normal activity, and exchanged a bit of money for a wrapped package of food. She tucked her book under her arm only to find it yanked from her hands by Gaston with a hearty laugh.

"Belle, I keep telling you time and time again, these books are nonsense. Why should a woman be reading anyway?" He boomed, to loud cheers of agreement.

"Give that back!" She yelped, not expecting the sudden theft. She jumped for the book and found it held particularly high and out of her reach now. "That's mine! I need-"

She stopped, gaping now as she spotted Aeleus behind Gaston, pluck the book easily from his grip as though from a petulant child. The hunter gaped, whirling around and glaring at him, puffing out his chest at the realization that Aeleus had finally reacted. Ienzo, smoothly moved to Aeleus' side, taking the book from him to hand it neatly back to the young woman. Philosophy, hm? She was quite a bit more learned than the prodigy had first assumed.

"Thank you." She murmured, backing away from the duo.

"How dare you-" Gaston growled at Aeleus.

"Leave the young lady alone." Aeleus rumbled, his voice cutting through Gaston's shouts like cold, hard steel.

"And, if I don't want to?" Gaston countered, his eyes narrowing, a wicked grin on his face as he grabbed the woman's wrist. She cried out in pain and surprise.

"Then I will make you." Aeleus warned, his face a stone cold mask as he crossed his arms across his chest. Gaston glanced at the corded muscle with absolute disregard.

"Oh really?" Gaston said with a grin, his perfect white teeth glinting as he yanked at Belle's arm, laughing boisterously as she yelped in pain. "I'd like to see you try."

Gaston's eyes bulged as a Aeleus' iron grip clamped around the man's neck and tightened. Immediately Gaston released Belle, who darted away from the men with her package, looking in amazement as Aeleus slowly lifted Gaston's struggling body from the floor as though he were an oversized ragdoll. Gaston kicked and scratched at him but Aeleus seemed not to notice as he calmly spoke over his shoulder at the bartender. "If you'll please excuse me, I'll be back in just a moment to pay. There is something I must attend to outside."

The bartender shrugged his thin shoulders and waved him onward. In fact, to Ienzo's amazement, no one seemed to be getting up to help the rowdy hunter. The only movement seemed to be from Even, who was now rushing over to Belle to check her wrist, his clinical precision seeming to come in handy more often than not on this long road trip of theirs. Their shocked silence either spoke to their fear of Aeleus or their disdain for Gaston. Or both. Ienzo couldn't help but notice a rather amazed respect at the soft spoken words Aeleus was using. Apparently not used to a polite fighter, it must look rather strange on the outside, Ienzo thought with a note of pride.

Aeleus dragged the shouting, choking man rather calmly from the tavern, yanking open the heavy oaken door and, without a second thought, tossed Gaston outside with enough force to send him sprawling out in the frosty night. He stepped through easily, the weight of the door slamming shut behind him.

Ienzo managed to rush to the window just in time to see a rather sizable looking figure (obviously Gaston) try to dodge clumsily away. Of course, it did him no good as Aeleus' fist made direct contact with his face. There was a pitiful, sniveling whimper and a loud thud.

Aeleus entered again, closing the door shut carefully behind him and rubbing his hands together as though he had been out on a particularly brisk walk for the past five seconds. He approached the bar once again, speaking in undertones to the bar keeper, who was still looking at him in amazement and the dull murmur of excitement that followed his footsteps. "My apologies for the trouble." Aeleus began. "I shall pay my tab and leave."

"Not necessary." The man said in response, wiping a mug before filling it with ale once again with a wide, relieved grin. "My son is a rotten jackass. You did him a world of good. The meal is on me. Here, have another." He laughed boisterously and passed the mug on. Aeleus looked at him in surprise and then with sudden understanding.

"And the young lady is alright?" Aeleus said, peering over at Even, who had just finished up with the impromptu checkup. He gave the thumbs up with an affirmative while Belle gave him a strange, concerned look. Then again, who didn't think that Even was somewhat strange?

He picked up the mug and saluted the bar keep. "You have my thanks."

"Same to you, sir." He responded in kind, raising a glass of his own.


End file.
